Approaches to an electrical contact to electrically connect a laser module and a suspension that houses a head slider, in the context of a hard disk drive, involves a laser sub-mount electrical contact that includes a metal barrier layer underneath an electrode layer, where the barrier layer material has a lower heat transfer coefficient than the sub-mount material. Consequently, during the soldering process the diffusion of heat to the sub-mount is inhibited and the wettability of the solder is improved.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. An energy-assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) assembly, comprising: a head slider comprising a magnetic write head; a suspension configured to support said head slider and comprising a suspension electrical contact; and a laser module coupled with said suspension, said laser module comprising: a laser, and a sub-mount on which said laser is mounted, said sub-mount comprising a sub-mount electrical contact and electrically connected with said suspension via a solder joint electrically connecting said suspension electrical contact and said sub-mount electrical contact; and wherein said sub-mount electrical contact comprises an electrode layer over a barrier layer; and wherein said barrier layer has a lower heat transfer coefficient than the heat transfer coefficient of said sub-mount.
2. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein said barrier layer is in direct contact with said sub-mount.
3. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein a Ti electrode bonding layer is positioned between said barrier layer and said sub-mount.
4. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein said barrier layer comprises a metal.
5. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein said barrier layer comprises SiO 2 .
6. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein said barrier layer comprises TaN.
7. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein said barrier layer comprises Al 2 O 3 .
8. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein said barrier layer consists of one from a group consisting of SiO 2 , TaN, and Al 2 O 3 .
9. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the length and the width of said barrier layer is in a range from 0.6 to 1.6 times the diameter of a solder ball used to create said solder joint.
10. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of said barrier layer is in a range from 0.35 μm to 10 μm.
11. The EAMR assembly of claim 1 , wherein said barrier layer has an opening filled with a conductive material.
12. A hard disk drive (HDD), comprising: a head slider comprising a magnetic write head; a suspension configured to support said head slider and comprising a suspension electrical contact; a magnetic-recording disk rotatably mounted on a spindle; a voice coil motor (VCM) configured to move said suspension and said head slider to access portions of said magnetic-recording disk; and a laser module coupled with said suspension, said laser module comprising: a laser, and a sub-mount on which said laser is mounted, said sub-mount comprising a sub-mount electrical contact and electrically connected with said suspension via a solder joint electrically connecting said suspension electrical contact and said sub-mount electrical contact; and wherein said sub-mount electrical contact comprises an electrode layer over a metal barrier layer; and wherein said barrier layer has a lower heat transfer coefficient than the heat transfer coefficient of said sub-mount.
13. The HDD of claim 12 , wherein said barrier layer is in direct contact with said sub-mount.
14. The HDD of claim 12 , wherein said barrier layer comprises at least one from a group consisting of SiO 2 , TaN, and Al 2 O 3 .
15. The HDD of claim 12 , wherein said barrier layer consists of one from a group consisting of SiO 2 , TaN, and Al 2 O 3 .
16. The HDD of claim 12 , wherein each of the length and the width of said barrier layer is in a range from 0.6 to 1.6 times the diameter of a solder ball used to create said solder joint.
17. The HDD of claim 12 , wherein the thickness of said barrier layer is in a range from 0.35 μm to 10 μm.
18. The HDD of claim 12 , wherein said barrier layer has an opening filled with a conductive material.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
August 27, 2013
September 16, 2014
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